British Technology Entrepreneurs Reception at 10 Downing Street

Whichit was cordially invited to 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, to join like-minded technology entrepreneurs at the British Technology Entrepreneurs Reception.

Heading the VIP guest list was Jack Ma, founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group. Other distinguished guests included Rohan Silva, former Senior Policy Advisor to David Cameron turned entrepreneur and Eileen Burbidge, one of London’s most influential venture capitalists. Other successful entrepreneurs who created some of the UK’s most successful technology companies such as Moshi Monsters, Graze, CityMapper and CarThrottle attended the reception too.

Jack Ma, the business magnate and philanthropist, announced that he joined a panel of business figures advising Mr David Cameron on business matters. The announcement of his new position, came the day before a four-day state visit to Britain by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Our founder and CEO, Jonathan Gan had the honour of meeting Mr Ma and speaking to him briefly, showcasing Whichit to the founder of China’s own Google, Amazon and eBay rolled into one, getting some sound business advice in the process.

This is not the first time Whichit has been invited to Downing Street, in fact is the third time that we´ve had the honor and hopefully we will be returning there again soon.

Business Leaders Reception At 10 Downing Street

Whichit’s CEO, Jonathan Gan, was invited as a representative of the technology and startup sector for a Business Leaders Reception at 10 Downing Street, with the honour of being hosted by the UK Prime Minister Mr. David Cameron. There were representatives from different aspects of the UK private sector – from entrepreneurs to investors and CEOs as well as from the media and government.

The PM spoke about the importance of business development and the government’s support for this, and expressed his gratitude for the role those in attendance had played in this initiative.

During the event, Jonathan spoke to business leaders such as Brent Hoberman and Steven Cohen as well as the Prime Minister himself. They discussed Whichit’s move from Israel to Great Britain and Jonathan took the opportunity to personally thank the Prime Minister for the Sirius Program and all the support Whichit has received from UK Trade & Investment.

Overall it was a great evening that once again demonstrated the impact high growth companies such as Whichit, have on the UK economy. We’ve demonstrated our significant contribution to the business sector while thriving in a great ecosystem provided by the Innovation Warehouse and Accelerator Academy. It was heartwarming to view the level of attention and support the government places on strengthening the technology sector and an honour to Whichit to be part of it.

Whichit named EMEA app of the year by Facebook’s FbStart

This week has brought us the captivating F8 conference which is held by Facebook. Intended for developers and entrepreneurs, Facebook’s event – which takes place in San Francisco – is designed to help those who build products and services centred around Facebook’s website and groups.

Facebook recently launched FbStart, a program designed to help early stage mobile start-ups build and grow their apps. FbStart provides start-ups with an exclusive community, worldwide events, and mentorship from Facebook, and up to $60,000 in free tools and services. This year Facebook began selecting the most successful start-ups from its program, in order to host the annual App of the Year Award.

This year Facebook selected five Apps to be awarded the FbStart’s App of the Year, broken down in regions around the world. Whichit was honoured to be awarded FbStart’s App of the year for the regions of Europe, Middle east and Africa. The awards were selected from over 400 entries, narrowed down to the top five apps within the FbStart program in which entries were judged on four key properties: growth and engagement; expertise and design; efficiency at scale; and leveraging the Facebook platform. The panel of judges consisting of six experts; three senior level executives from Facebook and three industry experts such as a Partner from leading venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz made their final decisions just over week ago ready to be bestowed on the final day of the F8 Annual Developer Conference. They recognised the best and most innovative mobile apps to emerge from the FbStart program which has helped showcase Whichit’s potential as an emerging platform.

Innovate UK 2014 | Why I Chose The UK To Internationalise My Business

This week lays host to the UK’s leading innovation event, Innovate UK 2014. Bringing together an audience of more than 2000 people over two days and putting them in front of 200 world’s leading speakers to discuss ways to help grow your business, covering vital funding, support and presenting a vast amount of high powered connections. With attendees from research base, to government, business, as well as UK and international investors from 30 overseas markets, this really is the best event dedicated to networking with leading innovators.

Whichit’s CEO Jonathan Gan joined a panel of successful entrepreneurs to discuss why the UK is the best location to internationalize your business. The UK is currently located at the top of the list as the world’s leading location to both set up and grow a business. It provides the much required direct access to the European market, built up of the international environs of over 830 million people. 

In the 40 minutes, a creative discussion took place between these industry leaders, bringing forth thoughts on the advantages of the UK market over others, the types of support you can receive here as well as the money oriented challenges you may face and the reasons why London is the economical hotspot of the United Kingdom, leading more businesses here over any other mainland locations.  

Jonathan Gan discussed how the UK is the world leader in eCommence, which is the sector that Whichit belongs to, as it is located at the center of the interaction between finance and business, making it the hotspot for brand and financial growth. Furthermore, with the cultural variety the UK holds, it allows for fast growth, as you can target a strongly diverse group of people in a small geographical space. For those you cannot directly reach, it is located within such a time zone that it allows for international contact within the business working hours.

All this came together to pin point what the UK holds in terms of leverage to help further expand your business. Programs created by the UK government, such as the Sirius Programme, combined with the startup support activities of Innovation Warehouse and the Accelerator Academy, provide startups the ultimate environment to take your idea to the next level.

Whichit Founders at Innovate UK 2014

The sector was Chaired by Philip Salter, Director of The Entrepreneurs Network, the panel was made up of Dmitry Aksenov, Chief Executive Officer, FinGenius, Tim Brown, Founder, Three over Seven, Greg Fitzgerald, Carbon Analytics, Henrique Olifiers, Co-founder, Bossa Studio and our very own Jonathan Gan, CEO of Whichit.

Click here to see a video of the full discussion